Nuzlocke: Innocence Lost
by Richie Kaiba
Summary: A child with a gift sets off on a journey. He didn't mean to get caught up in all this end of the world drama. If he'd known the outcome, maybe, just maybe he would have just stayed home. But that was never really an option. Based on my Emerald Nuzlocke R
1. Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

The Mayfield family had recently moved to Littleroot, and they got on rather well with both the locals, and the pokémon in the surrounding area, which was a skill one desperately needed when they chose to live so close to a forest.

They'd moved there because of two reasons, firstly Norman Mayfield had landed the position of Gym leader, which meant they had to move anyways, they had been from Johto. The second reason was also to do with Norman, he and the local Professor were old friends, and they both had sons that were in the same age group. It just seemed to make sense.

As a way of introducing the two to each other, Professor Birch had invited Norman's son, Hop*1, to come along with him and his son Max on a little research trip to Route 101.

Hop agreed, and that's where the story begins.

There were three people, that had been split into two groups, that were wondering around Route 101. Professor Birch, decked out in his out-of-place researcher lab coat, basic black shirt, cargo shorts, and hiking boot, was alone. As he wondered around, he'd write things down in a little notepad. Behind him were the boys, Max and Hop.

Max was a young boy of around nine. He wore glasses, and had abnormal leaf coloured hair. He wore a green jumper, brown trousers and black trainers. Max looked around at everything curiously, as he found nature to be rather interesting.

Walking next to him, side by side, was Hop. He was a pale child who looked to be just about ten, with curly ginger hair. He wore a yellow and white striped shirt, blue shorts, and yellow Wellington boots, strangely enough. Hop was dazed, he looked up and seemed to be paying attention to the chatter of wild pokémon in the air.

"So _Hop,_" Max said the word like it didn't sit well with him, which was to be expected with such a strange name, "Do you like Littleroot?"

"Um, yeah. It's nice." Hop sounded distant, like he wasn't paying attention. He was still glancing up, and he saw a Zigzagoon scurrying about from branch to branch. It looked at Hop, who waved back.

It scowled, it features saying something like, **"A human?! Just great!"** and then it rushed off. Hop was rather put off by the event.

Max had been watching, his eyes were wide behind his glasses. He let out an impressed whistle.

"That's one grouchy Zigzagoon." Hop nodded, still unnerved.

"We should be careful, Max. That Zigzagoon sa-" Hop was cut short by a scream of pure terror. Without warning Max took off in the direction of the scream.

"What are you doing?" Hop yelled, he'd been startled by the scream, but he was in no hurry to find out its cause.

"That scream was my Dads!" Max offered in way of explanation. He didn't stop, of course. That would've been counter-productive.

Hop shook his head, and against his better judgement followed after Max. Hop soon caught up with Max, and the two continued running till they found a small clearing, the trees surrounded the area, and the ground was covered in uneven patches of grass.

Max, who moments before feared for his father's safety, simply stared at the event unfolding with bemusement. Hop tried to keep a calm head, but couldn't. He ended up giggling uncontrollably.

In the clearing Professor Birch was chasing a Zigzagoon, which Hop noticed was the same Zigzagoon from earlier. The reason Professor Birch was chasing the Zigzagoon? It had managed to steal the Professor's notebook, which contained all the research he'd gathered today, and in the last three months. There it was, trapped in the Zigzagoon's mouth, as it ran from Birch its saliva drenched the book, slowly degrading it. This thought ran through Birch's mind, and it was this fact that causing his worry.

Hop's giggles gained Birch's attention, whose features reflected relief rather well.

"Max! Hop! Over there, I dropped my bag. There's some pokéballs inside, uses them to stop this Zigzagoon before it eats my research!" His voice held a certain tone, as if he'd just had a brilliant idea. Max disagreed, rather openly.

"But dad those pokémon are for your research! If you let us use them, you won't be able to study them properly!" Max and Birch engaged in a yelling match, well this was going on Hop found the bag that Birch was talking about. It was brown and had lots of pockets. Hop searched it and found a chocolate bar, that was half melted, a book called 'Pokémon and You', a picture of Birch's family that looked to be around a year old. Hop took quick note of the girl in the photo, who looked to be around twelve. He then put the photo back and got back to searching.

A moment later he found a pocket that held a single pokéball, which had a symbol just over the button. It was a wave, which tipped Hop off nicely.

"Water, huh? Cool." Hop pressed the button whilst pointing the ball at the ground, he also made sure to only hold the top half of the ball. It opened, and in a flash a water type materialized in front of Hop.

The pokémon was primarily blue, and walked on four legs. Under its head was a lighter shade of blue that stretched down the creature's body. It had a giant fin coming out of its head, and two pointed orange gills on the side of it head. It was a Mudkip, and it was looking around, rather confused.

"Aww, aren't you a cutie? What's your name?" Hop crouched down and made eye contact with the Mudkip. Mudkip stared back, focusing on the first living thing it had seen.

_"Mudkip."_

"Adele? Is that French?"

_"Kip."_

"Cool."

Professor Birch, whist still chasing the Zigzagoon, took note of the exchange between Hop and the Mudkip. _'Is Hop actually talking to that Mudkip? Or is he just messing around?'_

Hop suddenly seemed to recall what he was supposed to be doing.

"So Adele, what kinds of moves do you have?"

The Mudkip, apparently named Adele looked up, as if in thought.

_"Kip, mud mudkip."_

"That's pretty basic, isn't it?"

Adele appeared to roll her eyes.

_"Kip kip mud mudkip mudkip? Mud mudkip?" _Hop nodded in understanding.

"I suppose your right. Well, think you can help me with that Zigzagoon?"

Birch was shocked, or as shocked as a person could be while focusing on two separate things at once. _'It couldn't be a joke. Mudkip would have lost interest by now. Hop can talk to pokémon?'_

Adele seemed to ponder the question, then she gave a quick nod and a response of _"Mudkip!"_

Hop smiled brightly.

"You mean it? Sweet!" Hop hopped up from the ground, and glanced at the Zigzagoon, who had stopped when it realised what was about to happen. Adele had also span around to face her foe.

"Okay Adele, use growl to start off with, okay?" Adele nodded up at Hop, then turned all of her attention at the Zigzagoon that was charging towards her. She let out a growl from deep within her throat, and the Zigzagoon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still continued with its attack. It tackled Adele, who took the hit and ended up rolling away to recover.

Hop gulped, that had looked like it'd still hurt quite a bit, regardless of the growl.

"Oh gosh. Tackle, forget all this growling nonsense!" Adele nodded, and quickly rushed back at the Zigzagoon, and tackled it with all her heart. The Zigzagoon took the hit and tumbled to the ground, but it got up and still looked like it could keep going. The Zigzagoon turned to Adele and smirked. It growled, and Adele looked terrified for a moment, and that was all the Zigzag needed. It rushed forward for another tackle.

"Snap out of it Adele!" Hop yelled in a panic, and Adele seemed to come back to her senses. Just in time too, as she just managed to dodge in time, and the Zigzagoon kept going till it hit a tree. It collapsed for a second, but got up again and wobbled around for a moment or two. It turned to Adele and bared it's teeth*2, ready to do some serious damage.

Hop and Adele shared a shiver, events weren't looking bright at the moment. Hop took a deep breath, "Its gotta be week by now. Tackle it again." Adele nodded, and she rushed at the Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon had had the same idea and rushed at Adele.

The two met, and ended up bashing heads together. They both stumbled back, and were both rather dazed. The Zigzagoon finally stumbled over, having fainted. Adele just barely managed to stay standing.

"You did it Adele! That was so much fun!" Hop went and hugged the Mudkip, and despite how tired she was, happily repeated parts of it name. Or at least that's what it sounded like to Birch and Max. To Hop it sounded more like _'It was fun, wasn't it? Wanna fight someone else?'_

"I don't know if that'll be an option, Adele. Hope we can though." Hop had never felt such an excitement. Shame it was over.

"That was cool." Max mumbled, somewhere off in the corner. Actually seeing two pokémon go at it was the most exciting thing Max had ever seen.

Professor Birch seemed to be in thought. He walked up to Hop, who was holding Adele in his arms now.

"Rather impressive Hop. Thank you for the assistance. Though I must ask, did you _really _talk with that Mudkip?" Hop stared at him confused.

"Her name's Adele, and of course! Didn't you hear her?" Hop spoke as if talking to pokémon were a perfectly normal occurrence. Professor Birch stared at Hop silently for a moment, then nodded.

"I see. Hop, you and I need to discuss something of great importance." Birch looked around, then grumbled. "This, however, isn't the right place for it. Come, let's go back to my lab. Come on, Max." Birch started walking, back towards Littleroot.

Hop and Max walked behind, Max going on about how awesome that battle had been, and Hop going on about how cool Adele was.

Up in front, Birch smiled to himself. _'Ah, the joys of being young.'_

* * *

Hello! I'm Richie Kaiba, and if your reading this, thanks so much for reading this far!

So yeah, this is a Nuzlocke fic. I'm just quickly going to go over the rules.

A, Can only catch the first I see on any new route.

2, Nickname everything!

Trois, if something faints in any manner, be it combat or poison/burn, it is considered dead, and must be released or boxed forever and ever and evers, amen!

So, if you liked this Chapter, review! And if you didn't, tell me how I can improve it. Oh, and from this point on, Pokémons dialogue with be properly shown, but most human character just can't understand it, M'kay? Lovely.

Oh, and yes and that was Max. Cause my rival's May, and she has a brother in the Emerald version. Will Max be important to the plot? Probably not.

And finally this, *, means there is a footnote. Just sayin'. 'Cause I'm probably gonna keep using them.

*_1 -_ _Hop's darkest secret, that only a select few knew about, was that his real name was Joseph._

_*2 - The notebook at this point had been chewed into a perfect mess. As it was completely useless, Zigzagoon had spat it out. Birch wasn't too bothered, really._

Name: Adele

Species: Mudkip

Nature: Mild

Ability: Torrent


	2. Chapter 2: A Chat At The Lab

_Pokemon: 1 Dead: 0_

Chapter 2: A Chat At The Lab

The group returned to Professor Birch's lab, there were a few other scientists hanging around. The lab itself was exactly what you'd expect. White tile floors, white walls, bits of technology all over the place, there uses was any bodies guess. There was also tables upon tables of notes. Honestly, it was like Professor Birch didn't know how to use a computer*1.

Hop looked around with curiosity, well Max shrugged. He seen all this before several times. Max headed off towards a chair, that just so happened to be underneath an air conditioner. Few could blame him, the summer heat was intense.

That left Professor Birch standing in front of Hop, well Adele ran around the lab, exploring yet another new area.

_"Hey Hop, what's that?" _Adele asked, gesturing with her head at some of Birch's technology.

Hop shrugged, "I don't know, Professor, what's that?" Hop pointed at the same device that Adele pointed at earlier. Birch was silent for a moment, taking the previous transition into account.

"Oh, um...it's a Pokédex. Basically, it scans a pokémon, and by doing so gathers all the information it can on the species in general. It's a nifty tool."

"Dad, we've talked about this." Max spoke in a deadpan voice. Professor Birch sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar. He proceeded to walk over to Max, and handed it to him. Hop could do nothing but stare at the transaction, where as Adele was having all kinds of fun chasing this one Scientist around. He didn't seem to be enjoying it.

"Um, what was that?" Hop asked, baffled by the exchange.

"To simplify it, I have a swear jar for Retro slang." Birch shook his head, Hop giggled at strangeness of the whole ordeal, and Max folded the dollar and placed it into his pocket.

"Could someone help me?" The trio's focus shifted to the Scientist, who was backed into a corner, cowering like his life were mere moments from ceasing. Slowly walking towards him was...Adele, who was smiling like she were having the time of her life.

"It's gonna kill me!" The Scientist wailed. Hop blinked his eyes, rather confused. He turned to Birch, who shook his head in amazement.

"Adele?"

_"Yeah?"_

"What you doing?"

_"Just playing tag. I finally got him cornered."_

"I see." Hop looked at the panicking Scientist, "Excuse me Sir, are you having a laugh?"

"What are you talking about!" The man's features twisted to reflect utter terror, "Look at it! It's bloody terrifying!"

Hop shook his head. What was wrong with this guy?*2 Regardless, Hop should probably do something about it.

_"Adele, would you mind not playing tag with that man? He doesn't like it." _Adele looked at Hop, confused. She backed up without question, and walked over to Hop. The Scientist's breathing calmed, he got up and returned to working as if nothing had happened.

There was silence for a moment till, "Well, that happened." Hop turned to Professor Birch, "So you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Professor Birch nodded, "Oh, yes. As thanks for rescuing me, I'd like you to have the Mudkip you used earlier." Hop's face was blank for moment, his glance drifted to Adele.

"Hey Adele, do you want to live with me?"

Adele tilted her head up, something Hop was starting to associate with thought.

_"Sure. That sounds nice." _Adele smiled at Hop. Hop smiled back, and turned to Professor Birch.

"Thank you, Professor." Birch met eyes with Hop for a moment. _'I need to find out once and for all. But how am I going to... '_

"Hey Hop," Max spoke excitedly, "Can you _really _understand Adele?" Hop stared at Max as if he'd grown a second head.

"What, you _can't _understand her?" Hop's features were shocked.

"No, I can't. Most people can't, either." Max spoke quickly. He seemed a tad upset with fact, but that was to be expected, "Did you know I have a sister?"

Hop blinked, taken off guard, "Um, yeah. I know her, May right?"

Max nodded in confirmation, "She's a couple of years older then me, already has a pokémon. She helps dad out with research. This morning she went to Route 103, something about recording the pokémon that live there. Anyways, you should go over there, she can help you with some pokémon basics. Don't you agree, Dad?" Max looked expectantly at Professor Birch, who could only stare back gobsmacked.

"Well, that sounds like a good idea. I'll go talk with her." Hop left the lab, Adele following behind.

* * *

_*1 - He did, he just didn't like them._

_*2 - When the Scientist was five a Squirtle at sprayed him with bubbles. The Squirtle hadn't meant anything by it, but the boy had been forever terrified._

Chapter 2, and I take a step back. Next chapter I try to survive my way to May.


End file.
